Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a generator, a gearbox, a nacelle, and a rotor having a rotatable hub with one or more rotor blades. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. The rotor blades transmit the kinetic energy in the form of rotational energy so as to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
The rotor blades generally include a suction side shell and a pressure side shell typically formed using molding processes that are bonded together at bond lines along the leading and trailing edges of the blade. Further, the pressure and suction shells are relatively lightweight and have structural properties (e.g., stiffness, buckling resistance and strength) which are not configured to withstand the bending moments and other loads exerted on the rotor blade during operation. Thus, to increase the stiffness, buckling resistance and strength of the rotor blade, the body shell is typically reinforced using one or more structural components (e.g. opposing spar caps with a shear web configured therebetween) that engage the inner pressure and suction side surfaces of the shell halves. The spar caps are typically constructed of various materials, including but not limited to glass fiber laminate composites and/or carbon fiber laminate composites. The shell of the rotor blade is generally built around the spar caps of the blade by stacking layers of fiber fabrics in a shell mold. The layers are then typically infused together, e.g. with a thermoset or a thermoplastic resin. In addition, methods for manufacturing wind turbine rotor blades may include forming the rotor blades in blade segments. The blade segments may then be assembled to form the rotor blade.
Typical blade molds are constructed of a thermoset resin material. Thus, repair of the mold requires grinding out defective regions and re-laminating the defective area, mostly by hand. The repairs must be allowed to cure before the mold can be reused, which in some cases can take several hours due to repair and/or cure time. Accordingly, conventional repair methods can be expensive and/or time consuming. In addition, existing thermoset molds cannot easily be modified for manufacturing new parts. Thus, when new blade parts are developed, new molds must be manufactured as well.
Thus, an improved blade mold for manufacturing rotor blades and/or blade components that address the aforementioned issues would be advantageous. Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to a thermoplastic rotor blade mold that can easily repaired and/or modified.